IBM announced that it would hire 34 staff members to its operations as it aims to expand its Gold Coast research and development team.

In an interview with ZDNet Australia, Glenn Wightwick, chief technologist of IBM Australia and the director of Australia Development Laboratory, said, "Our Australia Development Laboratory Gold Coast team have world-class expertise in IT security and they play a critical role in the development of IBM's Tivoli security product portfolio... This expertise and the support of the Gold Coast City Council through their Investment Attraction Program has been critical in securing this new development mission."

The move comes in spite of the company's rocky relations with the Gold Coast Economic Development and Tourism Council. IBM recently had a spat with the body due to a contract involving enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

In a statement, the Gold Coast Council said, "The contract with IBM, which was only for ERP program, was terminated for convenience, following a decision to utilise purchased software for a wider suite of functions, including the Property program. At this stage, SAP has been engaged to assist in the design phase of a consolidated ERP/Property program, which is proposed to be completed by the end of 2010."

The council has yet to reveal the cost tied in with the cancellation of the IBM contract.